OMAHA, Neb. – Sometimes, the horse that breaks from the gate fastest just gets too far ahead for a closer to catch him before the wire.
That’s what happened for Murray State, who fell behind the UCLA Bruins 6-0 in their Men’s College World Series opener, but battled back late in the game to cut into the lead, only to just fall short when they ran out of innings, losing 6-4.
The Bruins will play the winner of Saturday evening’s game between LSU and Arkansas at 7 p.m. EDT on Monday, while Murray State will face the loser of the Saturday nightcap in an elimination game at 2 p.m. EDT Monday.
It was a rough start for Murray State, with starter Nic Schutte issuing walks to UCLA’s Dean West and Roch Cholowski, followed by a single to Mulivai Levu to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first. Another walk to Roman Martin sent West home for a 1-0 Bruins lead, but Schutte settled down, striking out AJ Salgado and Payton Brennon and inducing a ground out to first from Blake Balsz to escape the jam mostly unscathed.
In the second, Schutte allowed a lead-off double to Cashel Dugger, who advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Phoenix Call. Dean West followed with a single to right field that scored west, but West made an aggressive turn rounding first and was put out by a strong throw by Murray State right fielder Dustin Mercer to first baseman Luke Miston, who tagged West on the head while he was still two feet from getting back to the bag.
UCLA starter Michael Barnett was solid, allowing one run on three hits over 4 1/3 innings, but also allowed four walks, something he hadn’t done all year.”
“The guy’s really good. He’s starting the game for them in Omaha for a reason,” said Murray State leadoff man Jonathan Hogart, who went 3-for-5 with three singles and a run scored. “So hats off to him. He’s really good. Made some really good pitches.”
With runners at the corners and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Roch Cholowski laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored Phoenix Call for a 3-0 lead, a surprising move by one of the best hitters in college baseball and the Big Ten player of the year.
“That was on his own. I’m like, ‘Come on Roch, what are you doing here?'” said UCLA head coach John Savage. “But you know what, it’s a baseball play and he did that in the Big Ten Tournament. If you saw that play in the Big Ten Tournament, he pushed with first and third and got a double out of it. He pushed a little harder and this clearly wasn’t hard enough but it led to four runs, kind of the difference in the game.”
A single by Roman Martin then scored Dean West, and two batters later, AJ Salgado’s double to right center scored Mulivai Levu and Martin to make it 6-0.
But with two outs in the top of the fifth, the Racers began to run. Jonathan Hogart raced home from second base on a single to left field by Carson Garner to get Murray State on the board. Head coach Dan Skirka waved him home from third, and the throw from the outfield reached UCLA catcher Carson Dugger well in advance of Hogart’s arrival. Dugger, however, received the ball on his knees, and Hogart was able to get around the UCLA catcher and touch the plate with his left hand to cut the lead to 6-1.
They cut the lead to 6-2 in the top of the sixth when Luke Miston scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Dan Tauken.
An inning later, Hogart singled to lead off the inning, and Mercer followed with a single, but three successive fly-outs capped by a sensational diving catch in left field by UCLA’s Dean West ended that threat.
“I knew because of the pitch com, he was going to throw a changeup, and that was probably the only opportunity I would ever get to catch the ball. So I made sure I went out and go get it,” West said of the catch, which prevented at least one run from scoring.
In top of the eighth, Will Vierling lead off with a walk and advanced to third when Tauken followed with a double. Pinch-hitter Charlie Jury grounded out to second, allowing Vierling to score, and the next batter, Conner Cunningham, did the same, getting Tauken home to make it 6-4.
But that was as close as Murray State could get. UCLA brought out Easton Hawk for the top of the ninth, and he retired Mercer, Garner, and Dominic Decker 1-2-3 to earn the save for the Bruins.
“Murray State is very very competitive,” said UCLA head coach John Savage. “We knew when we put up a four in the fourth you know they probably wouldn’t blink an eye and then they did it. They kept battling back. It wasn’t an easy victory.”
For a team that plays home games before dozens of fans, playing in front of 24, 346 didn’t seem to faze them.
Asked if he ever thought he’d see the kind of support for Murray State baseball that they’re getting this week, Skirka had a one word answer: “Never.”
With a smile, he elaborated, “People in town support them and they know our guys. They see them at church, they see them out to eat, they see them at basketball games.
“People stop by our games, but, you know, we don’t even charge admission at our games. And for now these people just spend thousands and thousands of dollars to just drive all the way here, get hotels, get tickets, buying all the gear, you know, They got all the funny t-shirts going on, it kind of cracked me up this morning. To see them and to support these guys, it just speaks to how inspirational this game can be.”
Photo: UCLA celebrates their 6-4 win against Murray St. during an NCAA College World Series baseball game on Saturday, June 14, 2025 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Cory Eads)
